Global National: Oct. 4, 2024 | Escalating violence in Middle East claiming lives on all fronts

The escalating violence across the Middle East is claiming casualties on all fronts. Israel says two of its soldiers were killed in a drone strike in northern Israel and there were dozens of deaths across Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank. Israel says it targeted Hezbollah and Hamas leadership but it was mostly civilians who paid the price. And while Israel weighs what its response will be to Iran’s missile attack earlier this week, U.S. President Joe Biden urged caution, clarifying remarks yesterday on whether the U.S. would support a strike on Iranian oil fields. Jeff Semple has more. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says his country unleashing at least 180 missiles into Israel on Oct. 1 was "correct, logical, and lawful," as he made the rare move of leading Friday prayers in Tehran. He also made part of his speech in Arabic, reaching out to members and supporters of Iran’s proxy groups across the Middle East. Redmond Shannon explains the significance of the speech. Western nations including Canada are ramping up their military presence in Cyprus to be ready if their citizens need to be evacuated out of Lebanon. Mercedes Stephenson is in Cyprus monitoring the military buildup. Global News has learned Imperial Oil in southern Ontario is facing one of the largest environmental fines the province has issued and it's all due to an oil spill back in 2021. The refinery has been ordered to pay $1.1 million. More than a thousand litres of slop oil leaked into the ground. The refinery is located on the south side of Sarnia, roughly 1 km from Aamjiwnaang First Nation. Carolyn Jarvis reports. Montreal police say it is too early to know how many people were inside a century-old building that caught fire in the city’s historic district, but officials say there are an undetermined number of fatalities. The investigation was handed over to the police department’s major crimes division, which is working closely with the arson unit. Insp. David Shane says the origin of the blaze is considered “suspicious,” but he could not provide more details. Brayden Jagger Haines reports. One week ago Hurricane Helene made landfall on the south eastern part of the United States. In North Carolina, several mountain towns were hit with flash floods. More than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched several states and if that much water had been concentrated over North Carolina, that would have covered the entire state in water one metre deep. Helene is the deadliest hurricane since Katrina. At least 220 people have died and as Jackson Proskow reports, the scale of damage remains difficult to fathom. We tend to think of beavers as Canada’s national animal but it's two-year-old “Nibby” in Massachusetts that is garnering lots of attentions in a bitter legal battle. An animal rescue centre has been battling state officials over whether the rescued beaver is allowed to stay with them or be released into the wild. Heidi Petracek reports. For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/national/program/global-national Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ Follow Global News on X HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB #GlobalNews